No worries, before i worked in finance (wrote code/developed models to trade futures on daily tf for a firm in RI for about a year), I was only vaguely aware of some of these things
> long tail risk: assets that have problems that take a long time to affect the price
Not necessarily, could be any asset or derivative that could be susceptible to experiencing large declines in return relative to normal conditions during certain periods of time
> HY: high yield, meaning they change quickly in price by large percentages and can make more money quickly
No, high yield bonds. Avg yield on 4.5-5 year maturing ones right now is about 6%. Or at least the 1217 cusips I track ASOF mon close.
> trash: low priced stocks for crappy companies
Not just stocks, but yes
> garbage: same thing
^^^
> collateralized HY coming due: investments backed by assets that will default
about 91.8% of HY bonds coming due in 4.5-5 years are not backed by any collateral. "Will default" is subjective, but my work has about 61% have a good chance of default (from ratings, current price of the bonds, 10-q/10k data available), not including liquidity premiums/discounts for people who "want out now", not including leverage actors take when buying/lending such now like they do.
> leverage: money
Borrowing money in order to increase ones exposure (or contracts that act as such), larger returns/drawdowns are expected if (not) managed properly compared to not borrowing to finance a position (or buying the underlying out right in cash).
> "oft repeated things": aphorisms about finance that are often wrong
Or wrong in certain contexts.